Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by andsoitis 4 days ago
Reasons include, but are not limited to:

a) broad competition is good

b) jurisdiction diversification (you don't want to be dependent on the regulatory winds of a single jurisdiction)

1 comments

...but you're not dependent on anyone?

If I'm running a Kimi model on my local cluster, the CCP can't shut it off.

It's not like the Finnish government has veto power over Linux.

You're not necessarily wrong for now, but that framing might be too narrow.

It is not beyond imagination that a government can limit availability to future frontier versions of the open weight models produced within their jurisdiction.

It pays to be a little paranoid and have a diversified portfolio of options to choose from. Anything that can have major geopolitical consequence is especially susceptible to such structural risk.

This has nothing to do with any particular government/country/jurisdiction except insofar as said country is a leading power and hence has immense leverage across a very wide range of dimensions. Said more plainly, it is safe to assume that a country with immense power is unlikely to be willing to cede or distribute such power to others.

If you're hung up on my choice of "the West", consider that I mean it geopolitically and economically, so broadly includes North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. I could have also said the Global South, but I think it is a fair statement that none of those countries have the means, but I'd be totally cool and happy if I'm proven wrong!